Perseverance
by Kirasdream
Summary: Kira Shepard's story from the joining of the Alliance and her missions around the Mass Effect Universe.  Many OCs until canon ME.  Some humor/drama/slight romance according to series events.  May be between K -M  Violence depending on content of chapter.
1. Diary Entry 1

April 13th, 2172

Voice Recorded

I guess this is still a habit, since it's been two years since Dr. Steinberg recommended me to keep journals as a 'self therapy'. Not that I doubt his judgment, but it's a bit boring to do. Who would listen to it and care besides me? Well, I guess it'll be entertaining when I'm thirty or something. My earlier entries were rather…depressing. It's quite strange, actually, looking back at them…Dr. Steinberg was right about me making progress. But there's nothing to be moping about now anyway; here on Earth I have more chance of traveling than staying on Mindoir.

Speaking of which, and the reason why I'm recording again after, what, a month? No wait, this is saying two…anyway, I've been accepted into the Alliance! It was a belated birthday present, but I just got the message from the terminal, and I got what I enlisted for—The Marines. I was very happy that I passed the test and even though they took Mindoir and my mental state at the time into account, they said I was healthy enough to potentially join. The Marines are the best from my standpoint since they allow a year of secondary education before practical training. They also have a new program called Galaxy Tour (GT) after hostile training that I REALLY want to do; you get to train with aliens! After then it's onto the N7 program….if I can get accepted into it. I don't know what I'm going to be doing in ten years (saving the galaxy, maybe? That'd be cool), but I'm really excited. First time in a while. As long as I get to travel out of the Sol System and meet new people aliens, I'll be very happy..

Wait, one second…I just heard the down stairs door open..I think Aimi and Takeshi are back from grocery shopping since Aimi's making Katsudon tonight. I better go and break the news. Here's to it going well!

{Kira Shepard} signing off

* * *

Revised first draft ftw! I think Kira sounded too happy in the first go around, and after I got most of her background figured out, her initial bubbly attitude did not fit. I wanted her to be optimistic though. Why is Kira with Japanese foster parents? Find out in later chapters!

Suggested playlist to listen to while reading (aka music I listened to while writing this chapter):

Lazy Daydreams—Vincent Diamante (Flower)


	2. Relay One: Peaceful Repose

If you are reading this just published chapter and/or have been keeping tabs, **RE-READ THE FIRST CHAPTER.** I changed some things in it, and it's important to know them before you go on and read this new chapter and the rest of the story. Happy reading!

* * *

**Relay One**

**Peaceful Repose**

The planet's sun was beginning to creep under the canyon's top, casting longer shadows in valley below. Kira was grateful for sundown; it would make their operation easier under the cover of dusk. She peered around the boulder she was crouched behind. She counted fifteen Blue Suns mercs, a mix of Batarians, humans, and Turians milling about beside the canyon wall, before she quickly withdrew her head as a laser shot past her, singeing the boulder where her head was. Damn, she was too careless and was spotted. She smelled burning mineral as she glanced at her companions, both of who were also hiding behind boulders, and nodded. The Asari Commando to her right positioned her sniper rifle as the Turian agent cocked his HMWA assault rifle. The Asari glowed blue for several seconds, then fired two shots. Just as the Blue Suns let out a collective yell, Kira and the Turian launched themselves from their respective hiding places, opening fire on the mercs. The Turian swiftly killed four Blue Suns, paving the way for Kira as she warped and lifted Blue Suns right and left. Crimson, violet, and indigo blood dancing with the blue glow of her and the Asari's biotics. Kira fired her pistol, her and her companions scoring headshot after headshot. Bodies began littering the rocky ground as they rained down bullets and lasers, and soon only one terrified Blue Sun remained. Before he could run, the loud "pyoo!" shot of the sniper rifle resounded in the canyon. The Blue Sun fell slowly, blood splurting from his chest, and his body hit the ground with a thud. The wind whistled through the canyon, darkness creeping over them as they remained tense for several more seconds, waiting, before Kira eased her pistol down.

"That seemed a little easy," the Turian said as the Asari joined them. "I don't know why they would put the weak ones outside other than it being a trap."

"Yes; it would mean that their base is nearby, with stronger opponents." The Asari added, and then pointed to a mass of boulders to the canyon wall to their right. Behind the rocks, the faint glow of red conveyed a metal door.

Kira surveyed the canyon wall. She replaced her pistol with her Claymore shotgun, and then fired at the rocks. The boulders shattered with a loud "Boom!", dust and pebbles flying through the air. "Well," she grinned at her companions as the dust settled, "we always like a challenge, don't we?"

The Turian and the Asari smiled with her. "Of course."

Kira reloaded her shotgun. "Let's go kick some ass—"

"We're here." Takeshi's smooth voice cut through her daydream like butter, the canyon of a far away planet fading to the inside of a taxi back on Earth, her two companions morphing into Aimi and Takeshi in the front seats. Shaking herself mentally, Kira checked out her window to see the Taxi getting closer to the military base. The base was overlooking the glistening ocean of Yokohama bay, with the sun barely peeking over the horizon. From her view up in the sky, she could see the edge of a training field, some of the airbase, the main buildings and the dorms beside them. As the taxi slowed and started to descend, she could see dozens of other taxis further down with families unloading luggage and carrying them to the dorms straight ahead. What looked like older trainees were at the curb as well, helping families take the new trainee's things to their buildings.

"Excited?" Aimi asked, looking behind her seat to Kira and smiling.

"A little." Kira yawned. They had to get up at 4 in the morning, despite living in nearby Tokyo and having been packed two days before. Takeshi had told her when he woke her up that she could be lazy at the base. She thought he was a bit more excited than she was. "Doesn't look like too many people are here though."

"That's because we got here early," Takeshi said proudly. Kira grunted. It was almost 6 am now, they had _better_ be here early. "You'll get to set up your room the way you like it before your roommate gets here. I always did that when I was training in the military," he added.

"We know," Kira and Aimi both said, but Kira couldn't help but smile. Takeshi was always talking about his military experience ever since she met him but she didn't mind it, especially now. Whatever she could learn from him, she'll take. Moreover, a week before when she had told Takeshi and Aimi that she had gone to the Recruitment Office on her birthday, the first thing Takeshi had asked was:

"Which program have you been accepted to?" His stance had gotten a little tense, his hand on the kitchen counter. Aimi had stopped chopping green onions with a surprised look on her face, momentarily forgetting about the rice cooker steaming noisily behind her.

Kira had gulped, thinking that maybe telling them was a bad idea. Takeshi had never mentioned how he would feel if she joined the Alliance. Maybe adding that he had inspired her to do so would lesson a potential argument? She had straightened up, and said: "The Alliance marines."

"Which base?" His stance didn't soften.

"Yokohama." She said, and added quickly, "it's close by here, so we can still see each other. I'm sorry I didn't tell you; I wanted to see if I could do it on my own—not that I don't need your help! It's just that—"

She was interrupted when Takeshi had squealed like a girl and ran over to hug her. "Good girl!" He said while squeezing her tight. "I knew you were smart enough to get in! Do you know how difficult getting into the Marines is? See sweetie? Didn't I tell you that she's the best? When do you start?"

"Yes, you did. Congratulations honey!" Aimi had put down the knife and came over for a group hug, beaming.

Kira had blushed at the fuss they were making and felt a little warm. She couldn't believe it; they were taking it so well! "I'm going for this semester, which is next week. I have a full scholarship so you guys don't have to pay-"

"We're your parents, of course we'll pay! But good girl, saving me money…"

"Takeshi!"

"Sorry, joking, joking. We'll help pay for books and weapons, you're going to need those since they're not included. And you know gene therapy is included, and the amp has already been paid for. But a full scholarship? Wow, we raised one smart teenager!"

Kira had hesitated while Takeshi and Aimi chuckled together, and had said cautiously, "…you guys aren't mad?"

At that, both of them then backed away a little, with Takeshi's hands on her shoulders and Aimi holding one of her hands. "Maybe a little for you not telling us that you were going to the office, let alone applying," Takeshi said, his tone a bit serious. "I would've liked to have put in a personal recommendation for you." His face had split into a grin. "But it sounded like you didn't need it since you got into the Alliance and a full scholarship on your own!"

"I'm saving the recommendation for getting into the N7 program." Kira grinned back, and Aimi and Takeshi eyebrows had raised.

"The N7 program?" They both had said.

"Yeah." Kira had tried to decipher their suddenly silent composure before hurriedly adding, "It'll be a while before I apply, but I figured that I could do it for officer training, after basic training."

"You have this planned out, don't you?" Aimi had said quietly.

Kira had looked at both of them in turn, hoping that her foster parents could read the determination that had been coursing through her body. "Well, yes. You guys taught me to have a goal, and mine is to travel and to help people. And it's because of you guys that I…I'm able to even do this."

Aimi and Takeshi had been silent for another moment, before they all hugged again.

The taxi stopped with a jolt at the curb just outside of her assigned dorm, Titan, before knocking Kira back into reality. She shook her head to clear her thoughts from wandering a third time. There were only several other taxis here; her dorm was technically the last one to allow move ins and not until three hours later, but she got permission since Takeshi was still enrolled in the marines and was called to duty the next day; if family (or foster parents, in her case) was on duty, then kids were allowed in early and for early orientation. There were 9 dorms total, each named after a planetary/moon colony in the Sol System. Titan was the furthest away from the base but closest to the ocean, and that was ok with her.

"Wow, did some rebuilding last time I was here." Takeshi noted as he got out of the Taxi, going to the other side to help Aimi out. Kira climbed out behind him, surveying the dorm. From what she could tell, the dorm was twenty-five stories high with huge windows and steel facade. The inside was a mystery to her; Takeshi mentioned everything being steel and hard, including the bed, to ready the recruits for military life. She thought there was no sense of going into combat with an aching back and had packed two futons instead of one.

Kira went around to the trunk area to haul out her luggage and to put it on the crates that were provided by Alliance personnel at the curb, and after Takeshi waved off additional assistance from them ("I'm not old yet! I can still carry things!") proceeded for Titan. As Aimi and Takeshi talked about details about his call of duty, (something to do with Turian relations) Kira was able to reach the entrance first, pressing her hand against a pad that had been bolted in the iron door. It scanned her hand, beeped, and then slid open. Kira looked cautiously into the lobby. Instead of metal chairs and steel desks, the lobby was filled with plush couches, antique lanterns and beautiful paintings that were hung on the blue and silver walls. It looked like the hotels that were modeled after the 20th century ones. The only thing reminiscent of this century was the elevator in the back with a the sliding doors and sleek gold colored desk by the elevators with two Alliance personnel behind it, holograms wavering in front of their faces.

"Oh, wow you guys are spoiled!" Takeshi just shook his head as Kira sighed with relief as the walked in with the luggage towards the elevator. So much for metal desks and steel walls like her previous school and Takeshi's ramblings. "This looks just like our living room! Twenty years ago, there was nothing in the lobby but desks, tools, and vids of combat. Kids these days."

"Dear, you have nothing reminiscent of you being a military man in our house besides your medals." Aimi said as they walked over to the desk to check in, Kira leading them. "For someone who is complaining about a lack of militarism in your daughter's dorm, you sure do like to live in comfort."

"I _earned_ my fluffy pillows, thank you very much," Takeshi said hotly as Kira reached the desk. The Alliance personnel, a man and a woman, covered their mouths to hide their laughter.

"Welcome to Titan, private." The man said to Kira, recovering quickly. "If during your orientation and move in you need any assistance, please feel free to ask."

"Thank you," Kira replied.

"Please press your hand onto the scanner and speak into the console for identification, please," the woman said, and two orange holograms appeared onto the desk and face level to Kira, who put her hand onto the scanner.

"Shepard, Kira." She spoke into the console. The holograms turned green and she saw her profile in reverse appear in front of her. The personnel both looked over her profile (their eyes darting to her when she saw them reading 'Biotic: fitted with L3 implants in 2170. Basic training received; additional training required.' Kira looked them in the eye when they looked at her, and they glanced away. She was aware that the military was giving a lot of benefits to Biotics who joined the Alliance, so the mistrust wasn't as bad as it was now since Biotics proved to be useful and not power hungry idiots. Still, the message hasn't sunk in with the people glancing at her.

"Alright, Ms. Shepard," The woman said, standing up and handing her a small data pad over the desk. "Your identity is confirmed and here is your card to your room. Do you require assistance with your luggage?"

"No, we got it, thank you." Kira said as she picked up her dropped bags. Aimi and Takeshi followed suit and lead the way to the elevator and summoned it. As the doors slid shut, she heard the man sneer to the woman "Of course she doesn't need assistance. She can just use her mind and levitate things anyway."

"Jerks." Aimi muttered as the elevator began to rise. "He better watch his mouth if any more biotics come in."

"Eh, he's right. I _can_ levitate the bags. He's just being cautious." Kira said, looking at the glowing floor numbers towards the top of the elevator. She twisted the handles on one of her bags. "But still nothing to start a fight over." She caught Takeshi's eye and he smiled proudly at her.

"I'll say." He nodded, ruffling her hair, and she waved it away. "By the way, have you seen the floor of this elevator?"

Aimi and Kira looked down to their feet. "Tile. So what?" Aimi groaned, knowing that Takeshi had taken issue with it.

"Tile! Not metal!" He said indignantly, waving his arm full of bags at the floor. "We liked sliding on metal in the elevators when I was in Basic Training. Slipping and sliding, getting bruises and concussions…"

He continued to rant 12 more floors, even when the elevator stopped and let them out into a very decorated but deserted hallway. Since Takeshi was funny and was trying to make Kira feel better, she kept smiling and wasn't bothered at all. "And these hallways!" He exclaimed, gesturing to the walls and the floor as they checked the room numbers bolted over the doors. "Persian carpets and Victorian wallpaper! You know what we had? Concrete and good ol' bricks!"

"Ah! 1643!" Aimi said, using her foot to point to a door to their left. They followed the direction she was pointing and began to hear faint techno music emitting from the room, steadily getting louder as they approached. "Wait, is this the wrong….Takeshi, stop whining and look at your data pad."

"No, this is the right room." Kira said. "See? 1643." She showed them her data pad that she had received from the personnel, and then pressed it to a pad next to the metal door. With a hiss the narrow doors slid open, and they were assaulted by loud club music and crazy colors. The music was blasting from small speakers mounted all along the walls of the room, half of the room was decorated with vibrant colors and gadgets, and dancing wildly in the middle was a tall girl with curly black hair. She was either so into her own world to not notice their dropped jaws and assortment of baggage or she was rude enough to ignore them.

"Uh…I guess that's your room mate." Aimi said over the music. "She's here early."

"Good luck with her," Takeshi muttered to Kira, and nudged her to the girl.

Kira gripped her bags tighter and walked in, hoping that she wouldn't have to dodge the girl's swinging arms. She only had messaged this girl once, and based on the girl's ending sentence, "Live free and prosper" (a saying that Kira had to look up to discover the origins of), she seemed to be very…interesting. "Vaye Healy?" She shouted over the music.

Vaye froze, her arms stopping in mid air and her hair swishing back and forth. Looking at Kira and Takeshi and Aimi with widening green eyes, she gasped and put a hand to her mouth. "Oh crap, how long were you guys standing there?" She exclaimed, waving her arm at the speakers and the music shut off. The glow of an omni tool on the arm dissipated when she lowered it. "I am so embarrassed! I didn't know you would be here this early!"

"Sorry to interrupt your dance session," Aimi frowned, and Vaye shook her head violently, her curls bouncing.

"No, not just that. I would've helped you move in, especially since that's a lot of stuff." She said, looking around at Kira's arms. "Please let me help you! I want to make up for an embarrassing introduction!" She said, bowing her head to Kira. Kira looked at Takeshi, who nodded.

"Uhm, sure," Kira said, sliding a bag off her arm and handed it to her. "You don't have to, I wasn't here to help you after all—"

"Nonsense! I refuse to lay around while someone could use some help." Vaye said, her lips pouting.

"Oh, well, you can start by unpacking this box and organizing it in the bathroom." Aimi said, setting down several cartons. Vaye immediately went over to grab the box and take it to the bathroom while the three others got the other luggage.

As strange and colorful as Vaye seemed, she was extremely helpful and detailed. Taking a closer look at her side of the room as she worked on her own, Kira saw that Vaye was extremely systemized; bed was very neatly made with no wrinkles, desk had only a few things on it, and her vids were alphabetized; her computer and data pad didn't even have a visible fingerprint on them. The only thing slightly messy was her board of holos that she had over her bed; there were so many that it looked like a mosaic. Aimi's opinion of Vaye quickly changed when Vaye asked to do more. Vaye's assistance helped speed up unpacking; she even asked Kira if she wanted her books by genre or alphabetized and ended up doing both. What should have been three hours of unloading and decorating became an hour and twenty minutes. After the last holo was put up, they all stood back to admire the room. Vaye's bright colors and nature themed side seemed to morph back and forth with Kira's dark colored and universe themed side, as if one could see the earth and the night sky horizontally. Kira hoped that this would be a metaphor for their room mate relationship.

"I hope you don't mind the speakers on your side of the room," Vaye said apologetically.

"If I didn't have bags in my hands, I would've joined you." Kira grinned. "I believe that was Adaigo?"

"Yeah! I saw that you had that album too! And when I was going through your music collection I noticed that we listen to a lot of the same things! You even had club music that's from Thessia—"

"Should we leave you two girls to get better acquainted while we attend the parent's session?" Takeshi interrupted as he clapped his hands to free dust, though with a twinkle in his eye.

"Oh, yeah, ok." Kira said. She forgot about the parent's orientation that was held for several hours during move in. "Where do you want to meet?"

"We'll call you about it, sweetie." Aimi said, kissing Kira on the forehead. "For now, you guys go hang out."

"Yeah, go to the beach! It's right there," Takeshi gestured to the window, where a bit of the ocean could be seen sparkling.

"Great idea! " Vaye rushed over to her closet, entering in a combination of numbers to open it. Kira followed Takeshi and Aimi to the door, and Takeshi whispered in her ear before entering the hallway: "She's a nice girl. Very smart too. I think it's ok to trust her."

"Alright," Kira said, and waved her foster parents goodbye to the elevator, before heading into the room with Vaye.

* * *

As Kira had expected, the beach was filled with people their age, who all seemed to have the same idea as Takeshi and went to take off to get some sun. Vaye commented on the 20 or so people that were walking in different groups while they were walking across the base to get to the ocean. She was glad someone else was as pale as her (referring to Kira, who mentioned her nickname when she was young was 'ghost'), blaming her irish ancestory for turning red and not tanning. After skimming the long strand of beach, they found a quite-ish place to set up towels and an umbrella. close to the shore with the base barely in sight. Vaye had brought a little basket with food, and cracked open and shared a grape-juice mix drink with Kira that Vaye's mom had given her before heading to parent's orientation.

"So, should we do some formal introductions since the file on each other was a bit skimpy?" Vaye said, leaning back and shaking her hair out of her face. "Because your first impression of me flailing about and my first impression of you looking creeped out probably wasn't a good start."

"I wasn't creeped out;" Kira laughed. "You have awesome music."

"Thank you," Vaye raised her cup of juice to her. "We should totally have a rave."

"And I totally agree, but I thought it was a good start. You struck me as a very…unique… individual." Vaye snorted in her cup. "That's what's cool though! You were very helpful and organized too. Creative too with how you helped me decorate. I couldn't have asked for a better start."

"You're very kind." Vaye smiled. "You also didn't call me out as a weirdo—not that I would've minded, since I am and love it—"

"That'd be rude! And you're not weird; you're an interesting—in a good way—person."

"Thank you again. You keep flattering me so much I won't be able to keep up! But being rude doesn't stop most people. You're very polite too; must come with living here. However, I don't have your powers of observation, so I would like to know about you."

_ 'Powers of observation'? I thought it was obvious._ "I would like to know about you first." Kira scooted to face Vaye and leaned in with interested. Vaye chuckled.

"So be it! The Life and Adventures of Vaye Healy, the abridged version!" Vaye stated, taking a sip of juice. "As you may have noticed, I am a lover of all things before the 21st century!" She said, gesturing to the towels and the picnic basket. Kira remembered the Star Trek (?) phase as well. "Should've seen my face when I got into the lobby. Anyway, born 2155 in Dublin, Ireland. No irish accent because Daddy traveled a lot before translators became mainstream and apparently Turians and Asari have trouble with accents when dealing with humans without translators. Lived on Earth all my life, though went with Daddy to Illium, Palaven, the Citadel, and several colonies here in Sol several times because of business."

"You traveled a lot?" Kira could hear her own envy in her voice.

"Yep. At first I didn't like it because I would miss my friends, and my first glimpse of a Turian when I was five was real scary, but after a few years I found out they're kind of cool to talk to. Beautiful voices too, wish more human men had their voices. Anyway, one human boyfriend, found out we were better as friends and liked it that way. Wanted to come here to study because it's one of the few bases to have a beach."

Kira rose her eyebrows, trying to not laugh. "Seriously? I hope that's not the only reason why you came here."

"Of course not!" Vaye poked Kira's arm playfully, and for once, Kira didn't mind it. "This has one of the best engineering programs with the military. Got accepted into it; Ship engineer all the way!"

"Ship Engineer? I'm impressed!" It was one of the hardest careers to get into, especially since Turians, humans, and Salarians were beginning to share some interstellar travel ship plans. Takeshi was right; Vaye was very intelligent, and probably hid until she needed to use it. "I noticed that you had an omni tool already." Kira mentioned, motioning to her arm. Most people her age didn't have one yet until they were in some type of training.

"Yeah; it's hardwired into all my clothes. Even my bikini." She brought up her omni tool up on her left arm, moving closer to Kira so she could see it better. Several kids passing by stopped, staring at the orange glow on Vaye's arm. "My dad's a freighter engineer, so he let me play around with his stuff since I was young especially when I was traveling with him. Gave me the omni tool when I was 15 and been using it ever since."

"Why not the Engineer corp?" Kira asked as the omni tool flickered off.

Vaye grinned while she tied her long black hair back. "Why go into the Alliance instead of the Engineer Corp? Besides better traveling opportunities and adventure, I'll know how to use a gun. And the gene therapy is pretty cool, I don't have a lot of endurance."

"I see." Kira wouldn't ask what she needed endurance for. She hesitated, then added cautiously. "What about your mom?"

Vaye shrugged. "She's an artist, and she comes with us sometimes when she can." That would explain why Vaye was so colorful. "She says that there's nothing more beautiful than Earth though, so she likes it here."

"Really?" Kira said, a little taken aback. Earth was beautiful, in some places, but she found that space was more captivating. And she heard about other planets being absolutely gorgeous. Guess beauty was in the eye of the beholder.

"Yeah. I think nature is beautiful, but Earth doesn't' have much of it left. I think she's weird, but I guess she likes being stuck in the First Contact War mentality." Vaye said, her tone turning dark. She seemed to catch herself, and immediately brightened up. "I have rambling on and on; I'm so sorry! Now it's your turn! What're you here for?" Vaye showed the same enthusiasm as Kira had and moved closer to Kira.

Kira paused. She wasn't sure on how to go about this. Vaye should know, since Vaye was honest to her, and moreover was living with her. The file must have mentioned she was a biotic, and Vaye didn't even mention it and wasn't freaking out over it. "Well, I'm with the Marines because I want to travel too, and I wasn't able to when I was younger. I also want to help people, so I was thinking either Sentinel or Vanguard would be the best option—"

"Wait, 'Sentinel or Vanguard'? Are you a biotic?" Vaye's jaw dropped with her eyes wide, her body leaning a little away from Kira out of surprise.. Kira felt her shoulders slump a little. Great, the person she is living with is already beginning to be weary of her.

"The file didn't mention that?" She said, tucking her hair behind her ears and looking away.

"No! That is so cool!" Taking Kira totally by surprised, Vaye moved in closer to Kira, her face etched in awe. "Biotics are so awesome! You glow blue and look so pretty and cool doing it! I wish I could levitate and use singularity!"

"R-really?" It was more of a question of Vaye's positive attitude of Biotics. She wasn't the first that Kira met, but she hadn't met anyone so enthused before. A lot of people didn't know about singularity either unless they studied the more recent biotic abilities in humans (or the most basic in Asari).

"Really! You weren't teased in school, were you?" Vaye must have noticed that Kira seemed really cautious, and her tone softened and became a little more serious.

Kira could have sighed with relief that Vaye was ok with her room mate being Biotic, and by her keen interest Kira had a feeling Vaye would be requesting her to use it soon. "A bit, but not for too long when I got here." Kira said, smiling to herself. That was after she biotic slammed the school bully into the wall last year.

"Here? In Yokohama?" Vaye's face turned quizzical.

"Earth."

Vaye continued to look confused. "You were adopted, right?" She said, checking Kira's expression.

"Yes." Kira said. It was a bit obvious, as Takeshi and Aimi were clearly Japanese and Kira was blonde and blue eyed. Thinking that it was probably necessary to add, and hoping Vaye hadn't heard about it (half of her previous school didn't), Kira continued. "I was born on Mindoir. Takeshi, or my foster dad, adopted me before I came to Earth."

Vaye's face went from confused to contemplative, to recognition, to finally her face falling, her eyes full of pity when she looked back at Kira. She looked like she were about to cry "You were…at the attack?"  
"Yeah." Kira nodded, groaning inwardly and then sternly added. "I worked hard to be here, and as bad as it was, there's nothing I can do about it to change it. Please don't treat me any differently than when you met me."

Vaye still looked teary eyed, but she slowly nodded. "Ok. I won't."

"Good." Kira said, settling back down onto her arms.

"I do have a question though, if it's ok."

Kira sighed. Most people wanted to hear about what really happened on Mindoir, since apparently a lot of what happened wasn't revealed back on Earth, lest people become too afraid to colonize again. People were also fascinated with how horrible the carnage was while the Batarians reaved the colony to the ground, and it disgusted her. "What?"

"Could you bring the basket here with your biotics? It's too far, and I'm hungry." Vaye said, straining to get the basket beyond her feet, her arms reached out as far as she could muster.

Kira burst out laughing, relief flooding her. Vaye looked at her with confusion again, but smiled. "So, you bringing it?"

"Yeah, one sec," Kira wiped tears from her eyes and raised her arm. She didn't care that there would be other people watching. As soon as she felt herself become numb, she reached out with her mind to the basket. Her arm glowed blue along with the basket, and slowly the basket wobbled upward. Leading with her arm, the basket floated over to Vaye and dropped gently into her lap. The look on Vaye's face was priceless; her mouth was wide open but was in a wide grin, and her eyes were the widest yet.

"This. Is. So. COOL!" Vaye said, looking at the basket and back to Kira and back to the basket. "Omni tools can't do this!"

"Biotics also can't fix ships." Kira pointed out as Vaye dug into the basket, searching for food.

"I dunno; biotics can lift the heavy machinery and equipment. Could you levitate the sandwiches too?" Vaye pointed to two wrapped pieces of bread.

Kira rolled her eyes, but grinned. "Don't abuse the biotics." She quoted her biotherapy teacher, and she lifted the sandwiches into their hands. Vaye looked so delighted that she started devouring her sandwich while looking at Kira in awe. As Kira bit into her turkey and cheese one, she heard Vaye said quietly. "I'm sorry for what happened on Mindoir."

Kira shrugged, waving her off. "Don't mention it."

"But I'm glad you're here." Vaye said. "I was kind of worried that I would have a bad roommate, but I'm not worried anymore."

Kira didn't say anything for a moment, slightly smiling. She could say the same thing of Vaye. "Hey, you dunno. I could snore in my sleep and keep you up all night." She said as she looked back at Vaye, grinning.

"Doubt that you could over-snore me."

"You wanna try?"

"You're so on!"

Kira and Vaye giggled together, and as they continued to talk and finish their sandwiches, Kira couldn't help but feel optimistic. Even if the classes were hard and she had bit of a hard time fitting in, she knew that at least she would try to make the best of it. Life was finally turning for the better.

* * *

Wooo! First chapter. At the rate I put out chapters, Mass Effect 3 will be out by Relay 2's release! Nah, I hope to be caught up by then. Cushy life these military trainees have, eh? I figured this would be the "college" equivalent of the future with the dorm experience, and then next semester is basic training (and thus military life). This was more of an introduction chapter, nothing really going on now besides adding potential conflicts for later. Next chapter is where the good stuff will begin! Onto Relay 2, and thanks for reading!

Playlist!

I'm not a Hero—Hans Zimmer (The Dark Knight)

Adaigo—K Complex

Speaking of Sophie—(Anastasia Soundtrack)


	3. Diary Entry 2

Just so you guys know anytime I do Kira's journals, whenever something's in italics, it means someone else is speaking.

* * *

**April 21st, 2172**

**Voice Recorded**

*Whew,. Today's been a long day. First day of class was quite hectic—

_(Vaye's voice, far off): What's that?_

Oh, I forgot to mention. I keep a journal. If it's too noisy I'll stop.

(_Vaye's voice): Voice journaling? Never tried it. I just write. No you're not loud. Keep going, I'm putting in my headphones. By the way, trade with me!_

No!

_(Vaye's voice): Awww…_.

Ok, anyway…today was the first day of class. Aimi and Takeshi left yesterday after they treated Vaye and I to dinner last night with Vaye's parents. Vaye looks a lot like her dad-

_(Vaye's voice): Are you talking about me?_

Yes, nothing bad.

_(Vaye's voice): Of course nothing bad. I'm too awesome. Sorry, I'll leave you alone._

Ok, so Vaye looks like her dad a lot, and her mom's very pretty. Very quiet; more quiet than Aimi, which Takeshi and Mr. Healy found funny after they had a bit too much to drink. After that we all said goodbye and there was a lot of hugging and stuff. It was funny, the second they left Vaye and I turned off the lights and blasted techno til we passed out, at, what, was it 3 or 4am this morning?

_(Vaye's voice): More like 5._

Must've sucked for you. Vaye has an 8am class, so she looked thrilled this morning. There is so many people packed into the class; I thought Triton High was big, but these classes have 200 or so people in them; how do we learn with that much people? We barely have any assignments too. One of the guys I sat next to Interspecies relations, Kenji, was really cool—

_(Vaye's voice): You mean really hot._

*Sputter. No!—I mean yes, he's cute but that's not what I was….stop interrupting!

_(Vaye): Sssssuuuuurrrreee._

All that aside, Kenji is pretty cool. Comes from a military family, and wants to be an Infiltrator. I'm surprised that a lot of people know what they want to do…of course it's a bit limited, and most of the careers we want all require N7 training to become elite, but I haven't seen this much determination in my peers, ever. It's like a whole other world, so to speak, here. Anyway, we went out to lunch before my biotics class, which went very well. Kenji's roommate Charlie is a biotic too and we were paired up for basic exercises. He's pretty interesting too—

_(Vaye): He's hot._

Is that all you like in guys, if they're hot or not?

_(Vaye): Not if they're douches._

Ok, _anyway_, we all got together for dinner and had a great time talking. The cafeteria here is actually pretty good. Takeshi was telling me horror stories about it and to avoid 'Tuna Casserole surprise' on Wednesdays, but I'm pretty sure that we're getting the better end of military life than he did.

_(Vaye): Trade?_

No, for the last time. I don't think your pen pal will be prepared to switch with someone else without him knowing.

_(Vaye): We're both human females. He won't know the difference._

That's not very nice. What Vaye is talking about is our year long project in Interspecies Relations, which I think is a really good idea. Apparently, the Alliance along with the Turian, Asari, and Salarian governments thought it would be a good idea for the future soldiers of the galactic republic to get to know each other while they're doing their training. We're given a person's name and contact information and we're supposed to pen pal each other for as much as we can. I never got to have much contact with other species, so I'm really excited. I'm still revising my first letter to my pen pal, Lakarus Aylious, who's a Turian. Vaye got a Salarian and she wanted a Turian since she thinks they're hot too—

_(Vaye): NO, I just know how to talk to Turians. All you have to do is be professional._

I'm teasing. Really, professional? I figured I should be formal...well, I guess I should concentrate on writing this letter, so this will be goodbye for now.

{**Kira Shepard**} signing off.

* * *

Another Diary entry ftw. If you guys like the diary entries or not, please let me know. I thought it'd be interesting to provide a different way into Kira's thoughts, but if it's annoying, I'll take it down. I was going to give Kenji and Charlie a better introduction, but that'll be for Relay 2, which is being written now. 5 hour trips really spur creativity.

Playlist!

Tokyo Drift—Teriyaki Boyz (FATF Tokyo Drift)


	4. Relay Two: Determination

Yay an update! **Thank you BloodyMalika for the editing! She is a very professional and efficient editor :)**

* * *

**Relay Two—Determination**

Kira turned off the microphone for her journal and pulled up her holoscreen from the desk. The sun was already down, and from the window she could see the half full moon already beginning to reflect off the ocean. It was a bit dark in their room too, with only the light from Vaye's data pad, Kira's holo and the tiny lights simulating stars on Kira's side of the wall to light the room. While her messages loaded she turned to look at Vaye, who sat on her bed with headphones in ("It's vintage! You should try it!" She had said when she showed the tiny earplugs to Kira that morning) and was tapping on her datapad.

"I'm messaging Omadin." She caught Kira's eye and took off one earplug. "I'm just a little nervous, since I only met one Salarian and he was more hyper than me. Kinda scared me."

Kira raised her eyebrow, remembering Vaye's wild dancing. "More hyper than you?"

"I know, right? I don't want to believe stereotypes, but I heard _all_ of them are like that." Vaye said in a deadly whisper.

"The Salarian Councilor wasn't hyper," Kira said, recalling a Vid shown in Interspecies relations of the Citadel Councilors during a Spectre Induction.

"True." Vaye inclined her head. "But I think the councilors have to be relatable to other species, and Daddy said that Salarians he met typically have to 'slow down' a bit."

"Ah, I see," Kira said, nodding. Since Salarians only lived to about only 40 years, she imagined that they would seem 'rushed' to other species. She wondered if that's how Asari and Krogans felt about everyone else. "Let me know how it goes."

"Will do," Vaye replaced her earplug and resumed tapping.

Kira turned to her own console and pulled up her messages. She skimmed over them, half hoping that her pen pal would message her first, and saw no sign that he did. Figuring that he was really busy and that if he did message her first she would have to rewrite the letter she already prepared, she was a little relieved. After snorting when she read the message Takeshi already sent, titling: _I bet you're missing Aimi's cooking already, aren't you?_, she selected the one from Alliance Base. There were only three lines, the last one containing a link.

Lakarus Aylious

Turian Military Trainee

[Contact Information]

No other information? Not even a photo or an age? She suspected that the Alliance left it out on purpose so it would be a good way to ask specific questions. Or they forgot to include that information. She clicked the link, and a new message screen appeared. Pulling the keyboard closer to her and referencing the handwritten letter she had edited, she began to type.

_Dear Lakarus Aylious,_

_ My name is Kira Shepard, and I wanted to start by saying I look forward to our future correspondence together. I'm afraid that I was not given much information about you prior to this message and I'm still learning about Turian Culture, so if I have offended you in any way I apologize. It is not intentional. I'm not sure how much information was given on me, as the only information I was given by my instructors was your name, contact information, and the basis that both of us are about the same training level. But in case you were curious, I am an eighteen year old female biotic training to be in the Alliance Marines. I am currently stationed at the Yokohama base in Japan, Earth. Right now I am in the education portion, and in a few months we will begin basic combat training. How about you? Which portion of the military are you in, and what career would you like to do?_

_ Sincerely,_

_ Kira Shepard_

Kira reread it several times for any spelling or grammar errors before she was satisfied, and then pressed send. She heard that the automatic translator was excellent in configurating typed languages, but she didn't want to make it any harder on the electronic. Going back to her Inbox, she felt a little nervous. She had gotten Vaye to read it beforehand and she said it was fine, but she probably should've sent a copy to Takeshi, who had several experiences with Turians. She had gotten a little ahead of herself. However, she shrugged it off as she read Takeshi's messages, which was filled with little Takeshi tidbits ("It's much quieter here without your loud club music blaring from upstairs. We kinda miss it."), ending off with: "We miss and love you. Vaye and your other friends are invited over during the breaks and weekends anytime." Feeling much better, Kira turned off the holo screen and turned to look at Vaye.

"Hey Vaye, Takeshi and Aimi invited you-" She stopped when she saw Vaye rapidly tapping her datapad, her eyes squinting at the screen. Catching Kira's bewildred stare, Vaye unplugged a headphone and paused typing.

"Salarians move fast," she said, glancing at her data pad every few seconds, "or mine doesn't have a life. After I sent him a brief introduction seven minutes ago, he initiated a chat and his responses are lightening fast. I'd like to think I'm a quick typist and a quicker thinker, but I'm having trouble keeping up."

"Tell him to slow down?" Kira suggested.

Vaye scoffed. "He's eleven years old, and training to be part of a 'secret society'. Sound like the STG to me. He has currently told me half of his life's story in 3 minutes, and this takes up _pages_. I'm not letting him beat me, so excuse me while I proceed to bombard _him_ with information."

"Sure," Kira chuckled as Vaye put in her heaphones. She got up and climbed into bed, and staring at the little lights on her ceiling (accompanied by furious tapping and Vaye randomly muttering " 'Salarians of course have faster responses to information', I'll show you faster responses"), Kira drifted to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, with the sun shining through the window, Kira woke up to Vaye tapping, though it was slower this time. Sitting up and letting the covers fall off of her, she saw Vaye sitting at her desk with the holo pulled up, tapping on the keyboard. Her black hair looked wild, and she was slouched like she was extremely exhausted.

"Please don't tell me you've been messaging him all night," Kira said exasperately, swinging her legs off the bed and hopping down.

"Oh, good morning," Vaye said, looking over to Kira. Her face looked oddly refreshed. No bags or dark circles under her eyes. "No, I went to bed shortly after you did; I sent him half of my biography and said that I needed to work on my Engineering homework on Mass Effect drives and then ended the chat."

Kira raised her eyebrows. "You don't have engineering homework yet."

"He doesn't know that." Vaye dismissed. "I got up ten minutes ago and we've been chatting again. He's a little slower this time. Wonder why." She looked back at her screen suspiciously.

"Maybe because he was trying to show off and now he's impressed, or something." Kira yawned.

"Hmm. Dunno." Vaye said, then turned off the screen. "Mind if I get a shower first? I'll be quick."

"Sure." Kira sat her desk and pulled up her holo. "Breakfast in 30?"

"Duh. Be back!" Vaye said as she grabbed a towel and headed for the bathroom.

Kira put her elbows on her desk and rubbed her eyes while her messages loaded, yawning. Today she had several new classes in addition to her everyday biotics class, including physical training, electronics, and engineering. Physical training would be kind of fun, but electronics and engineering was a little worrisome for her. Back on Mindoir, she had spent more time passing notes to her best friend during basic engineering and farming courses rather than paying attention, and her marks showed for it. Well, at least she was rooming with an Engineer and thus an automatic tutor. Kenji was also doing some engineering courses as well. Besides, she was getting an Omni tool, something that she was looking forward to since Vaye had been showing it off all the time.

Glancing at the screen through peeked fingers, she saw flashing icon reading _New Message, _she hurriedly touched it to reveal a sprawling letter from her pen pal. Suddenly awake, Kira read:

_Kira Shepard,_

_ It is a pleasure to meet you, albeit under electronic communications. Your instructors are correct in that we are in similar training. I'm not in anything specific besides Spectre training here on Palaven. If I prove that I can handle the more challenging courses, then I will do something more tailored to my needs. I would like to be a General so I can stay in the Military. How about you? Since you're a biotic (which implants have you had? I hope not the L2s since I heard there's a lot of problems with them) and doing military training, it sounds like a good Vanguard or Adept basis. Am I correct in that?_

_ Until your reply,_

_ Lakarus Aylious_

_ P.S. You have not offended me. I appreciate your sensitivity and honesty. Just think of Turian Culture as being professional (though we're not all the time). From what I have learned, Turian and Human culture is not too dissimilar._

Kira reread the letter to absorb all the new information, and a smile crossed her face. She was afraid of how he would react, but it seems like he was a pretty cool guy, er, Turian. And Spectre training? How was she in an equivalent education? Last time she checked, education prior to combat training wasn't the same as training for the Citadel's personal agents. Thoughts swirled around in her head, wondering what she should reply back and how. After thinking for a moment, Kira began to type.

_Dear Lakarus Aylious,_

_ It is a pleasure to meet you as well. Excuse the unprofessional exclamation, but you're in spectre training? That's amazing. What is it like? It must be challenging; I haven't had any combat training yet, so I can only imagine what it's like at this point. I'm sorry if I'm prying, but why would you like to be a General? I'm guessing that Spectre training is a good way to prepare for military life. How long do you have to train for? And have your Instuctors said anything about the Galaxy Tour? Are you planning on going into GT? Sorry for all the questions…_

_ To answer yours, I have the L3 implants. I got the implants just two years ago, so luckily I did not get the L2s. I haven't decided which class I should be; I figured that I would try out everything and see what I'm good at during basic education and combat training, and then decide before I take the GT courses; that is, if I get into GT. I also plan on doing N7 officers training, if I qualify. Vanguard is a good option; there's not a lot of humans with that go into that class, but to be honest it is the most appealing one to me._

_ Until next time,_

_ Kira Shepard_

Just as Kira reread her message and pressed 'send', Vaye swung open the bathroom door with a bang, making Kira jump.

"Your turn!" She cried, fully dressed in her uniform but hair a little wet.

"Dear god you scared me!" Kira said, clutching her chest.

"Sorry; Charlie sent me a message inviting us to dinner at 5:30, after your biotics class." She said giddily, taking out hair accessories from her drawer and examining them.

"Oh," Kira said, putting away the holo, deciding to check her messages before dinner. "Wait, you've been in the shower. How'd you get a message?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you!" Vaye said, opting for a regular hair bow and tying her hair back. "I had a mini computer installed in there. It's illegal, so don't tell anyone."

Kira gaped at her. "What do you mean, it's illegal?"

"Meaning I'm not allowed to install it." Vaye shrugged. "I can have the device, but I don't' know if the building appreciates me hacking into their database briefly to install it. Don't worry, it won't get us arrested, just enough to warrant a warning, and if I got one I will take it down. They'll know it's me because it has my name on it. Besides, it's waterproof, plays songs, goes on the extranet, allows chatting, projects vids on the wall, that kind of thing."

Although Kira was shocked that this device could get them in trouble, she was intrigued by the song part. Embarrassing as it was, she loved singing and dancing in the shower. "Alright," Kira said, getting up. "I won't say anything about it."

"Yay, thanks!" Vaye said as Kira grabbed her clothes. "By the way, Kenji will be joining us!"

"Joy," Kira muttered as she went inside the bathroom. Way to make her a little self conscious.

* * *

The noise around the dinning area of the Common building was making Kira's head throb painfully, and chewing her food made her conciously aware of her jaw moving up and down. Every so often, between talking to Vaye while she and Charlie flirted and Kenji, she would rub her head, as if trying to massage the pain out.

"Head still hurt?" Kenji asked across the cafeteria table. He was still out of his uniform and in relaxed attire, his shoulder legnth hair pulled back. Charlie, who had gently chasitised Kenji for 'forgetting' his uniform, was to busy awkwardly flirting with Vaye.

"It'll go away," Kira shrugged, pulling her hand down. She felt a little nervous, talking to only Kenji. She had just met him yesterday, and had the strangest reaction towards him. She was usually comfortable around guys, more so than girls, but Kenji was…a little strange. Not in a bad way, but in a way that made her feel a little more girly than usual. He was very handsome too, with straight black hair and honey colored eyes.

"Well, that's good." Kenji paused to chew on some baby carrots. "You know, you should have more vegetables," he said, pointing to her plate, which was filled with meat, poultry, and pork. "It'll help with phys ed."

Kira blanched. "I've been on a farm all my life and Japanese food has a TON of vegetables in it. I want some meat," she scowled, taking her bacon and eating it.

Kenji's eyebrows furrowed, his head cocking to the side. "You lived on a farm? That's rare. What was it like?"

Kira hadn't told Kenji nor Charlie yet about being on Mindoir. Why bring up something depressing when everyone was getting settled and having fun? "Boring. Well, sort of," Kira amended, "compared to the city with lots of activities to do, it's real boring. Small community. But it was kind of nice to rely on ourselves for food and shelter. Farm work was ok; I'd much rather chop wood and drag the heavier stuff back to the farm rather than sweat out in the field though. Unless I was picking fruit. THEN I would be out there all day."

"Why did you like it?" Kenji raised an eyebrow.

"Because I ate while I picked fruit. " Kira sipped her water, then realized that she was sounding—and acting—like a glutton. "I have a high metabolism, and since I'm a biotic I need more energy, and while I was a preteen that was very apparent."

"Ooooh, a new topic!" Vaye interjected. "Were you like that when you were younger?" Vaye asked Charlie.

"Looks like they took a break from flirting," Kenji muttered to Kira, smiling at her. She felt her cheeks go red before she mentally scolded herself for being silly.

Charlie paused, swallowing his bacon. His dark skin seemed velvety under the light, and his grey eyes squinted while he thought about Vaye's question. "Yes," Charlie said. "Though when Dad's steak and Mum's sweets started disappearing, they had me cut down a bit."

The four of them giggled, their laughter increasing when Vaye said that she stole sweets from the fridge just for the heck of it.

"Well, I better get back to the room and change." Kenji said, stacking his empty plates onto his tray.

"Ok, see you at dinner," the three of them chimed, before Charlie and Vaye resumed flirting. Kira sighed as she watched them. As much as she liked Vaye and Charlie, she had a feeling that she would be a third wheel while with both of them.

Kenji picked his plates and as Vaye and Charlie absentmindedly waved goodbye, he mouthed to Kira, "Talk to you later". Kira nodded, feeling a little better, and watched him head for the disposal units. While Vaye and Charlie continued to chat, Kira took another sip of water, wondering when she could talk to Kenji one on one.

* * *

For the next week, Kira and Vaye developed a schedule. Both would get up, shower, then meet Charlie and Kenji for breakfast. Afterward, Vaye headed for Engineering ("Ship building intro! I think we're starting on mini engines!" she had grinned before her second day), while Kira would head for Physical Education. The hour long class should have been renamed "You'll be sore for the next few days" education. Kira would've liked to think she was rather fit, but this class proved her and the other cocky students wrong. She also discovered the second day that taking a shower that morning was a waste of water, as she was drenched in sweat by the end of class. At least she wasn't the only one limping out of the showers to their next class because of sore muscles. Electronics class was a nightmare, and even despite Kenji being in the same class, she couldn't grasp the material. Surprisingly her spirits were lifted in her next class of Engineering, where although she wasn't building engines, she did get her omni tool by the end of the week.

That day, she and the fifteen other students eagerly spent the hour and half class playing with them and downloading software with the instructor's guidance, a forty year old woman named Professor Nwosu. She even showed Kira and several other students how to project images from the extranet onto walls so they could watch vids ("Though stick to educational ones during class," she winked at them). Feeling rather optimistic about Engineering as she left the building, Kira grabbed a quick bite to eat for lunch from her dorm, and then headed to Biotics class.

The room that the class was set up in was the size of a lecture hall and still had desks and chairs in it, but the difference in this room was that the walls, floor, and ceiling were all padded. Fourteen other students had already arrived, sitting together and levitating random objects (pencils, books, occasionally other students), and Charlie, sitting in a group of five, spotted her. He waved to her as he stood up and she approached them.

"Hey, what's up?" He grinned as Kira came over as she greeted the others.

"Nothing much." She replied, shrugging. "You?"

"Same. Except Omni tools!" At that he dramatically brought out his omni tool, their uniforms and faces bathed in an orange light. "This thing is so cool! It does everything! I can't believe I have lived without it for so long! I'm going to have to ask your roommate for tips," he said, winking at her.

_Oh dear lord they're perfect for each other._ Kira smiled as she brought hers up. "Same here. We should ask after dinner." Where they would continue their endless flirting.

"Sure! Omni party at my place!" Charlie exclaimed, and Kira snorted.

"Doesn't Kenji know how to use it too?" She asked slyly.

He paused. "Well, yes, but, y'know...Vaye is in Engineer class, so I thought she would know more, and—"

"It's ok, I get it." Kira shook her head, smiling.

"Hey, you should talk to him about it. He's was talking about you last night," Charlie said, nudging her, wagging his eyebrows.

Kira felt her face go red. "What'd he say—"

"Ok, class, gather around." Their instructor announced her arrival by clapping her hands loudly and calling out into the classroom, her voice echoing across the room. Once chatter ceased and they all looked at her, she looked at them in turn with her nose upturned.

"Heh, just like Maina to interrupt," Charlie muttered as Maina entered the room slowly, heading towards the middle. "I guess you can ask him yourself."

"Mm," Kira managed as Maina stopped and turned to face them. The Biotics instructor had an air of self importance when she had first come into class four days ago, and the students had quickly learned why. Even compared to vids of Biotic experts, Maina's expertise and flexibility with her biotics were astronomical. She had bragged that she was better than quite a few asari even, and when a student had muttered "I bet against young ones", Maina had the student in stasis until the student apologized. Everyone then did not want to get onto Maina's bad side.

After a brief lecture, with Maina maintaining her upturned nose at them and talking to them like children, she had them do 'simple' exercises. The first was to lift chairs at least five feet off the ground, and the second to push tables across the room. As Kira had discovered earlier, she was far behind the rest of the class. While chairs were lifted five, ten, even fifteen feet in the air, she could barely manage to levitate hers 3 feet. It felt like she was actually lifting the chair with only two fingers instead of her arms, and she was visibly sweating. Maina glanced at her progress, scoffed, and moved on. Cursing that she hadn't practiced all week and determined to do better with pushing, Kira was able to skid the table half way across the floor. Her distance was pretty good, for the exception that her table was the only one that had stayed on the floor. After several repetitions, Maina called her out.

"Why are you so behind? Did you not have basic training?" Maina scowled as Kira's tabled skidded past her. Some of the other students stopped to glance at them, and Charlie was starting to look a little worried as his table was flung across the room.

Panting, Kira looked at her, worried. It was only a week; she was bound to improve once she started practicing. She hoped. "I did have basic training." And then, figuring that Maina would find evidence of her lack of effort, Kira added, "I have not practiced this week though; I will put more effort into doing so."

"I could see that, but even at the beginning of the week you have been light years behind. For how long were you basic training?" Maina put her hands on her hips, her bound blonde hair beginning to loosen.

"Six months." Kira said, glancing at her table, trying to make it move a couple more inches.

Maina gaped at her for so long that it was making Kira uncomfortable. "You were able to get in with only six months of training?" She exclaimed so loudly that several tables slammed to the ground because of student's broken focus. "Why on earth were you not in there longer?"

Kira thought that Maina was making too much of a big deal out of this, especially so soon. She didn't think she was _that_ bad. And she did well in basic training. "I was fitted for implants two years ago, so I could only take the basics in a shortened time. I took all the training I needed to, however."

"That could be argued." Maina sniffed, and Kira had to resist the urge to talk back. "Why only two years? Late in showing biotics?"

Not exactly; she was showing signs when she was fourteen, but it wasn't until she got to Earth that she was confirmed. "When I arrived to Earth two years ago, I received the implants. I promise I'll work hard and improve."

A sudden realization sparked in Maina's eyes. "Ah, a colony kid," she sneered. "No wonder you're behind." She said, and walked past Kira without another word.

Kira just stood there, forgetting about the table. '_Colony kid'?_ She thought, anger slowly beginning to bubble inside her. _'Colony kid'? That 'colony' was razed to the ground, you stupid—_

_Whoa. _Kira took a deep breath, and let it out. _Cut that out. She doesn't know which colony you're from, and frankly you aren't here to be pitied. I don't know what her problem is, but there's no reason to get mad. _After she felt her anger slowly dissipating, she started pushing her table again.

Although he paired with different people since Charlie was one of the best in the class and was really nice, Charlie had noticed something was up, because for pair work (using barrier against pillows being pushed towards them) he immediately partnered up with her. "You ok?" He whispered as he faced her.

Kira shrugged as she bent down to pick up a pillow, measuring a five foot difference between her and him. "It's ok," she said, tossing it in the air and pushing it with her biotics towards Charlie. A sphere of blue encompassed him and the pillow bounced off. "Not the first time I got crap for biotics."

"Yeah, hear hear." Charlie agreed, pulling up barrier as she pushed another pillow towards him. "I didn't know you were from the colonies. Which one?"

Kira had not told Charlie nor Kenji about Mindoir. They were too busy having fun and getting settled into military life, and she didn't want to introduce a depressing topic. "Long story. Tell you later." Kira said as Maina walked past them wordlessly. As she continued using her biotics, she noticed that she was getting better at flinging the pillow at Charlie, pushing it harder and harder, until it almost went past the barrier.

"Whoa!" Charlie cried as he ducked, the pillow flying over him. "You almost had me there!"  
Kira smiled. "Better keep your guard up, I may get you next time," she said.

"Switch!" Maina called. Charlie grinned, grabbing an armful of pillows and brought it over with him.

"Your turn," he said, twirling it.

"Uh oh," Kira rose her barrier. Everything seemed warped and blue inside hers. "Go easy on me, please!"

"I'll throw it lightly, then harder, how's that?" Charlie asked.

"Sounds good to me."

"Then here we go." He suddenly pushed the pillow towards her, and the pillow bounced off the barrier, but the force of the push made her stumble.

"Hey, you call that light?" She said as she regained balance.

"Sorry, couldn't resist," Charlie grinned. "Ok, I'll go easier now."

For the next two minutes he increased the force of the push, and it was getting harder for Kira to maintain a barrier. Finally a pillow sailed through her barrier and into her stomach.

"Oops!" Charlie said as Kira doubled over. "You ok?"

"Yeah, it's just a pillow." Kira laughed, pushing the pillow to him. "If it were a brick I would be in trouble."

"Perhaps we should be using bricks." Maina interrupted, suddenly appearing and catching the pillow. Charlie started, looking between her and Kira. "Your barrier looks a bit solid. Allow me to try."

Kira nodded to Charlie and he stepped aside. Maina took his position and Kira mustered all of her remaining strength and raised her barrier. Just because this woman complimented her didn't mean that Maina was going easy on her. Maina levitated the pillow to eye level, and then it disappeared. Wondering where the heck it went, Kira felt something slam into her face. She lost balanced and crashed onto the ground, her barrier dissipating as she fell.

"How disappointing," Maina sighed as Kira winced out of pain, sitting up. Her muscles were still aching from this morning, and being slammed into the ground wasn't helping. "Perhaps next time." She said as she walked away.

Face burning, Kira rubbed her back as Charlie approached her cautiously. "You hurt?" He said quietly as he offered a hand.

_Besides my pride?_ "No, I'm fine," Kira muttered as she took his hand, and he hauled her up. "Thanks. It was my fault for not being prepared."

"_None_ of us would've been able to block that." Charlie whispered. "Why is she being mean? I don't get it."

"Me neither," Kira said, looking at Maina. The instructor had gone over to one of the other pairs, ("You call that a push? More like a pathetic attempt to even levitate," She scowled at one of the students). "Looks like I'm not the only one though."

"Well, hopefully she'll be nicer." Charlie suggested as he lifted the pillow.

"Perhaps." Kira said, and this time she was able to block a flying pillow to the head. "We'll see."

* * *

After Biotics, Kira was one of the first to leave the classroom. Telling Charlie that she and Vaye will meet up with him and Kenji for dinner after they got ready, Kira made her way back to the dorm, the sun starting to set in the distance. Once she got into the room, she was a little relieved to see that Vaye had not yet arrived. She wanted to be alone for a few minutes.

Kira climbed onto her bed, laying down a moment. Her head was continuing to throb and her body's muscles were beginning to ache. She felt exhausted, and her stomach growled angrily at her. _Well, today could have been better._ She thought, staring at her stars on the ceiling. _Phys Ed may be a bit easier, Electronics is still like a foreign language to me, Engineering may be ok, but Biotics? I thought I wouldn't have any trouble with that. _Kira frowned. _What was her problem, anyway? Is she just like that? She was picking on those two other guys too. _Kira looked at her chair by her desk and raised a hand towards it. Her hand glowed white blue for several moments, and the chair wobbled six inches up. She tried to make it go higher, but she felt energy rapidly leaving her body, and the chair plunked down. _Seriously? I though I would do fine at this whole thing._ She sighed as she put her hand down._ School was so easy compared to this; I didn't think that this would be easy, but not this hard either. Isn't the first week of education supposed to be easy? _She paused her inner monologue, trying to go over the process of documentation, essay writing, and recommendations that she had to do to be accepted into the Alliance, let alone get the scholarship. _ Did I have a sort of handicap to get in here? I don't recall saying anything on the application, and I didn't go after that colony scholarship since I thought I didn't need it…no, if anything the administration would be more apprehensive to let me in. Right?_

Her wrist beeped, interrupting her thoughts. Bewildered, Kira brought her omni tool up, to reveal her message screen. She remembered that she had set up her omni tool to alert her when she had a new message. Scrolling down, feeling a little better that she had an omni tool, she saw that Lakarus had replied back. She bolted upward, her back muscles searing in pain. Lakarus had not replied since the beginning of that week, and she was worried that he was ignoring her.

_ Kira Shepard,_

_ I apologize for the very late reply. A surprise field exercise training was sprung onto us four days ago, and we were left without technology. It was supposedly a test to see how much we depended on technology, and it was rather embarrassing, to say the least. Reaching for an omni tool to search the extranet of edible natural food on Palaven and not having it was a very humbling experience. _

_ However, referring to your message, there is no need to excuse the exclamation. I am flattered. I suppose Spectre training would sound impressive, but it's not as elite as most think. Not to say that it's not prestigious, but anyone who shows potential and is willing to work hard can get in. I was recently told that it is like your N7 alliance program, so we are more alike than I think we both first thought. You are right that Spectre training would be good to getting a high military position, and regular military training is not enough. Spectre training is more rigorous than military training, and tests your mental fortitude more. I want to be mentally and physically prepared to lead my soldiers in battles. It's a little personal, but some of my relatives in the military died due to poor leadership, and I do not want the same pain to befall anyone else._

_ On a less depressing note, I still have two years for training including the galaxy tour, which I am aiming for. Also useful for…humans call it a resume? And training with different species is a huge perk. I am looking at the Strategy and Combat portions. How about you? I'm sure if you work hard that you will be able to get in. If you are being a Vanguard, perhaps I may train with you in the Combat portion. I have to admit that I have to admire your consideration of that class; it's a very dangerous one, and to be blunt not many survive even if they do have the proper training. I hope that won't be the case for you._

_ Lakarus_

_ PS You do not have to use my full name. I do not think it's no longer necessary. I will call you by your titled name however until you are comfortable with it._

After several minutes of rereading the message, Kira turned off the omni tool screen and laid back down. She would message him back tomorrow, when her head cleared.

The little lights on her ceiling twinkled in the corner of her eye, and she looked up at them. Her vision blurred, her eyes lightly watering. The lights became distorted, and she reached her hand up to them. _'Work hard'…what if I don't have it in me to do it? I feel so…almost broken. I thought things like this would be nothing compared to losing everyone…but it feels almost worse. _She remembered what Lakarus had said, saying that he had lost people he loved. It was his reason for his education and need to become a General. Suddenly, a connection was drawn between her and him that previously was not present. Her vision cleared, and the lights glittered like the stars. Hand still raised, she clenched her fists. _It doesn't matter. If Lakarus can do it, then so can I. I've been working too hard to let something like classes being too difficult to get in my way. I have survived worse than this. I _have_ to get accepted into GT. That is the only way how I can get back out there, and has been my purpose for years. I _will_ continue to work for what I want, and I will get it._ Her omni tool beeped again, and this time it was a message from Vaye, telling Kira to meet her and the others at the cafeteria. Sending a short reply back, Kira swung her legs over her bed and put her uniform jacket on. Ignoring her aching muscles, she headed for the Common Building, her body tensing with determination.

* * *

I could always do with some critiquing and suggestions, if anyone feels like it :) **Thank you very much for reading!**

Music!

_Climbing up Iknimiya—James Horner_

_Sweet Sacrifice—Evanescence_

_Robin—Taku Iwasaki (Witch Hunter Robin)_-Especially last section


End file.
